Box



June 16, 1931. o. w. THOMAS BOX 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 22, 1930 INVENTOR OWEN W. THOMAS B MM AT TO RNEYS 0. w. THOMAS June 16,-1931.

BOX

Filed March 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll! llililililliiliiifliiiliiiliiiifl tr L INVENTOR 3 OWEN W. THOMAS ATT RNEYS Patented .June 16, 1931 4 Tab Lsoam OWEN w. THOMAS, or MINNEAPOLIS, iaINNnsfo'rA, 'n'ssrenonif TO PUFFER-HUBB'A'RD 'IMANUFACTURING 00., or MI N P LIS, 'MI-n EsoTA, A CORPORATION os'MIN- f' Nnsom.

' Box This invention; relates to new and useful improvements insboxes andmoreiparticular- 1y t'O' fOlClIHg'bOXBSJ LAnobjeetiofrtheinventiontisrtojproyiidea box coomprising r side and" end Walls: suitably connected together at theoorners of theibox and having metallic railssecuredto the: lower portions of *two of said walls *andiprojectingi inwardly to provide supports for tlIBi'bOX bottonn iand each rrail vcomprising vertically disposed ears adapted *to" 5 engage outer 'rsur faces: of the lower K portions 1 of said box Walls and having horizontally idisp'o sed "portions adapted "to 'engage the bottom edges {of :the Walls, and each rail further having a flan'gie portion adapted 1 to engage inner surfaces of the box walls and an inwardly proj'e'oting shelf-adapted to provide a support forglthe of'theend wall's'of the box, and said horizontal portions being provided on oneks'ide with ertically disposed earsja'dapt'e'd to engage outer surfaces o f the end walls, and the oppositev'sides of said horizontally disposed portions having depending 'WallPOItiOIIS con- 7 neetedjtogether and provided at their i lower endswith shelf-likeportions which project inwardly and? provide supports for 1 the box bottom, when the box is unfolded or setup, and the connecting. means between said horizontally disposed portions "projecting;-up Wardly into the box and engagingtheinner surfaces of the end Walls andicooperating with said earsto secure ther'ails {to the box wallsiin proper positions, and-the relative positions of said rail s jupon thebox-fwal'lfs and the'lengths thereofbeing suchfasto -pr0-' Vide means. for stacking the boxes, ne upon another,the rails of one box being adapted to extend downwardly into -the open top of another} box, thereby to" retain the boxes position, one upon another. Y

Other objects of'the invention [Willappear one upon anotheryand from theffollowingf description and a'ecom pan'ylng drawingsand will the annexed claims.

, lIn I the accompanying 1 drawings, there has been disclosedra istructureidesigned to carry out 1 the Various obj ects of the invention, F but it is to .be understood that the invention is not confined ='t,o-1t-he 'exa'et features shown as various changes may be made within "the scope of lthe' claims-Which' folloW.

I lnthe'drawings; I V F igure 1 is a 'perspective view showing the rails 1 provided at the: lower edges of the end Walls of the. box: and i-the "box bottom folded inwardly; l n

Figurei 2: is a bottom View of the box when folded; r

Figure 3 folded; 1 a

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail -see-tional -Vl8W"Sl1OWlI Ig the manner of securing the rails to the lower edges of the' box Walls;

'Figure': 5 is a detail sectional View showing afme ans for hinging 'the box bottom to one of'thewalls"of the box; I Figure '6 is an enlarged detail sectional vie'w'on the'line 6-6 of Figure 4; showing the rail of one," box 1 projecting into the open top of another box, "as -Wl1en:.-'stafcking the boxes I Figure is a. perspective-view rails/removed from the 1 box.

In the; selectedembodiment I of the invenof one of the 'tion here shown, for purposes of 1 disclosure, 3 there is llustrated in Figure 1, a -box com--- prising sidewalls 2 and '8- and end Walls l,

"pivotally connected together the-corners of the box by suitable hinges. The Walls at diagonallyfdisposed corners of the box ;-are

be pointe'd'out in 7 hinged togetherby suitable angle 'plates'5 suitable 'la'eing' wir'es 7-, as indicated by "the r dotted -lines'-=at the right hand side of Fi'gurella Th'e'walls at t'he opposite'eorners of Figure 1, Portionsofthelaoking ires? i100 and '11- are} also-shown in F-igure 3; 4, and 6.

the box arehinged together by strap meinbers 8 and 9 w'hichalso are la'eed'to t he slats The walls of the box are here shown composed of a plurality of slats tied together by the lacing wires 7 and 11., as will readily be understood by reference to Figures 1 and 4.

The box bottom 12 is also shown composed of a plurality of slats, and is hinged to the side wall 2 by suitable hinges 13, each of which is here shown as comprising a plate 14 secured to the bottom 12 and having a hook portion 15 adapted to engage an elongated aperture provided in an angle plate 16, se-

cured to the lower edge of the side wall 2, as best shown in Figure 5. By thus hinging the bottom 12 to the side wall 2, it may be folded upwardly into the box, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 between the walls of thebox. The angular shape of the hinge plates 5 at opposite corners of the box cause the end and side walls of the box to be spaced apart, when the box is folded, so as to provide room between the box walls for the box bottom as best shown in Figure 3.

. Another important feature of this invention resides in the construction of the rails 17 provided at the lower edges of the end walls 4 of the box. These rails are best shown in Figures 1 and 7 and each is provided with horizontally disposed portions 18 adapted to be seated against the lower edges 19 of the end walls 4. An upstanding ear 21 is integrally formed with each portion 18 and are shaped to engage outer surfaces of the lower slat as shown in Figures 1 and 6. Rivets 22 secure the ears 21 to the box walls, as shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6.

The horizontally disposed portions 18 have depending vertical wall portions 24 integrally formed therewith, with which a shelf 23 is integrally formed. This shelf projects inwardly and provides a support for the box bottom 12, when the box is unfolded. The vertical wall portions 24 connecting the portions 18 with the shelf 23 are connected together by a vertical wall portion 25 having its upper marginal edge extending above the portions 18 as shown in Figure 7, and is adapted to engage the inner surface of the bottom slat of the end wall. The upper marginal portions of the walls 25 are adapted to engage the inner surface of thelower slats of the end walls, as shown in Figure 1, thereby cooperating with the cars 21 to secure the rails to the lower edges of the end walls.

The shelf-like portion 23 extends substanti ally the full width of the interior of the box and is provided at its ends with upturned wall portions 26 adapted to engage inner surfaces of the upper edges of the walls of another box upon which the rails may be seated, as clearly shown in Figure 5. Projections 27 are provided at the ends of the shelves 17 to provide feet for the crate when placed. upon a floor or other flat surface, as will readily be understood by reference to Figures 1 and 4. The outer surfaces of the vertically disposed wall portions 24 of each rail 17 lie substantially in the plane of the inner surface of each end wall, so that when one box is placed upon the top of another box, the rails 17 of the top box will project into the lower box and will thereby provide means for stacking the boxes, one upon another, and retain them in such position.

It will thus be seen that the rails 17 provide means for supporting the box bottom 12 when the box is in unfolded operative osition, and they also provide means for stac ing the boxes and retaining them in such position, and, in addition, provide runners for the box when in open position. Each rail and the means provided thereon for engaging the lower portion of the box wall, is integrally formed from a single piece of metal, thereby providing a rugged rail construction and one which may be manufactured at a minimum cost.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a box comprising a bottom and side and end walls suitably connected together at the corners of the box, of metallic rails secured to the lower portions of two of said walls, each of said rails including vertically disposed portions adapted to engage outer surfaces of a box wall and horizontally disposed portions adapted to be seated against the bottom edge of a wall, and each having, a depending inwardly extending shelf adapted to provide a support for the box bottom.

2. The combination with a box comprising abottom and side and end walls suitably connected together at the corners of the box, of metallic rails secured to the lower portions of twoof said walls, each of said rails including spaced apart vertically disposed ears adapted to engage outer surfaces of a box wall and horizontally disposed portions adapted to be seated against the bottom edges of the walls, and each having a depending 1nwardly extending shelf adapted to provide supports for the box bottom,

3. The combination with a box comprising abottom and side and end walls suitably connected together at the cornersof the box, of metallic rails secured to the lower portions of two of said walls, each of said ralls including spaced apart ears adapted to engage outer surfaces of a box wall and horizontally disposed portions adapted to be seated against the bottom edges of the walls, and each rail having a portion adapted to engage an inner surface of a box wall and a depending inwardlyextending shelf-like portion adapted to provide supports for the box bottom.

4. The combination with a foldable box comprising hinged together side and end walls and a hinged bottom, of metallic rails secured to the lower portions of the end walls, each of said rails having an upstanding ear at each end thereof adaptedto engage outer sur- Ill) 7 faces of the end walls, horizontally disposed portionsconnected with said ears andadapted to be seated against the bottom edges-ofthe walls, a vertical wall portion connected with the horizontally disposed portions of each rail and adapted to engage inner surfaces of said end walls, and a depending shelf-like portion connected with the horizontally dis posed and vertical portions of eachrail, said shelf-like portion extending inwardly to pro-, vide supports for the boxisopen. .V-, I 5. The combination with a folding box comprising hinged together side and end box bottom when the Walls-and a bottom hinged to one of said side walls, of a metallic rail secured to the lower edge of each end wall and each havinghorizontally disposed portions adapted to be seated against the bottom edges of said endwalls, ears integrally formed with saidhorizontally disposed portions and adapted to engage outor surfaces of the box walls, means for securing said ears to the box walls shelf-like por tions integrally formedwith said horizontally disposed portions andextending downwardly and inwardly to provide supports for l the box bottom, the'overall length ofsaidrails being substantially equal to an inside dimension of the box whereby the rails of one box may be inserted into the open topof another box to provide means for stacking the boxes,

one upon another.

6. A rail for a foldable box comprising horizontally disposed portions adapted to be seated against the bottom edge of a box wall, ears on said horizontally disposed portions adapted to be engaged with surfaces of the box wall, means whereby said ears maybe secured to the box wall, substantially vertically disposed portions integrally formed with said horizontally disposed portions" and depending therefrom, a shelf-like portion in-.

portions and projecting laterally therefrom to provide a support for a box bottom, an upright wall portion interposed between said horizontally disposed portions and having an edge projecting above said horizontally disposed portions and spaced from saidears, the i spacing between said ears and said projecting edge beingsubstantially equal to the thick ness of thefbox wall, said shelf-like portionhaving upturned terminal flanges, and the overall length 'of said rail being substantial- 1y equal to an inside dimension of the box,

whereby said upturned terminal flanges may engage inner surfaces of the box walls.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th dayof February, 1930;

' OWEN W. THOMAS.

tegrally formed with said vertically disposed portions and positioned to provide a support for a box bottom, an upright wall portion interposed between said vertically disposed portions and having anedge projecting above said horizontally disposed portions and spaced from said ears, the spacing between 7 said ears and said projecting edge being substantially equal tothe thicknessof the box wall, and the overall length of said rail being, substantially equal to an inside'dimension of ciired to the-box wall, substantially vertically disposed portions integrally formed with said horizontally di'sposedportions and de-' pending therefrom, a slielf-like portion in: tegrally formed with said vertically-disposed 

